Twenty-four-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor Heart Rate: A Potential Marker for Gestational Hypertension in at-Risk Women

We prospectively correlated the 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements (ABPM) to conventional sphygmomanometer blood pressure measurements (CSM) in women at risk for gestational hypertensive disorders (GHTNDs) and identified predictive factors from ABPM for GHTND. We analyzed 73 women with ≥1 risk factor for developing a GHTND. Using both the CSM and ABPM, the systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) were measured for 24 hours during three periods (14 to 24 weeks; 24 to 32 weeks; and 33 weeks to delivery). Correlation between the CSM and ABPM lessened as pregnancy progressed. Seventeen (25%) of women developed a GHTND. MAP variability increased in the GHTND group versus those without a GHTND. The odds of developing a GHTND increased 1.5 times for every 1 beat per minute increase in the ABPM 24-hour HR at visit 1 and reversed by visit 3. In women at risk for a GHTND, CSM and ABPM correlate less well as pregnancy advances. HR changes in at-risk women may be a marker for the development of a GHTND and may reflect increased sympathetic activity and/or decreased baroreceptor sensitivity

Health knowledge among the millennial generation

The Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, is the demographic cohort following Generation X, and is generally regarded to be composed of those individuals born between 1980 and 2000. They are the first to grow up in an environment where health-related information is widely available by internet, TV and other electronic media, yet we know very little about the scope of their health knowledge. This study was undertaken to quantify two domains of clinically relevant health knowledge: factual content and ability to solve health related questions (application) in nine clinically related medical areas. Study subjects correctly answered, on average, 75% of health application questions but only 54% of health content questions. Since students were better able to correctly answer questions dealing with applications compared to those on factual content contemporary US high school students may not use traditional hierarchical learning models in acquisition of their health knowledge

Dextrose intravenous fluid therapy in labor reduces the length of the first stage of labor

The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect on length of labor when patients receive IVF with or without dextrose. Searches were performed in electronic databases from inception of each database to May 2018. Trials comparing intrapartum IVF containing dextrose (i.e. intervention group) with no dextrose or placebo (i.e. control group) were included. Only trials examining low-risk pregnancies in labor at ≥36 weeks were included. Studies were included regardless of oral intake restriction. The primary outcome was the length of total labor from randomization to delivery. The meta-analysis was performed using the random effects model. Sixteen trials (n = 2503 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Women randomized in the IVF dextrose group did not have a statistically significant different length of total labor from randomization to delivery compared to IVF without dextrose (MD -38.33 min, 95% CI -88.23 to 11.57). IVF with dextrose decreased the length of the first stage (MD -75.81 min, 95% CI -120.67 to -30.95), but there was no change in the second stage. In summary, use of IVF with dextrose during labor in low-risk women at term does not affect total length of labor, but it does shorten the first stage of labor